A vehicle currently has a large number of interconnected devices (the most common ones including gasoline pump, radio, seat control, air conditioning, engine controller, air bags etc.), which, most of the time, have some sort of microcontroller integrated into the electronic control device called Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which is the element that makes decisions based on the software that was downloaded within.
An Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in automobiles allows managing various aspects of the internal combustion operation of the engine.
The electronic control units (ECUs) determine, for example, the amount of fuel injection in engines with injection systems, the ignition time in the combustion chamber, start-up controls, valve distribution controls and other parameters that allow monitoring of the engine through sensors, such as MAP sensor, throttle position sensor, air temperature sensor, oxygen sensor and many other sensors.
Programmable ECUs are required in situations where modifications after the sale of automotive vehicles are important for the final behavior of the engine. As a result of these changes, the old ECU may not provide proper control with the new configuration. In these situations, a programmable ECU is the solution. These can be programmed/mapped while connected to a laptop using a USB cable, while the engine is running, to map parameters such as ignition, water temperature, engine temperature, fuel supply, speed limit, speed control, variable cam timing, among others.
A race ECU is often equipped with a data logger that records the values of all the sensors for further analysis using special software on a computer. This can be very useful for the set-up of the vehicle and is achieved by observing the data looking for anomalies in the data or behavior of the ECUs.
Many recent cars use OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostic system in vehicles) ECUs, which are able to change their programming through an OBD port. Instead of using a new motor control system, one can use appropriate software to adjust the old ECU by reprogramming or updating it. By doing this, it is possible to maintain all functions and wiring while using certain parameter modification programs.
Modern ECUs use a microprocessor that can process the inputs of the motor sensors in real time. An electronic control unit contains hardware and software (firmware). The hardware consists of a set of electronic components that go on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The main component of this circuit in a board is a microcontroller chip. The software is stored in the microcontroller or in other chips of the PCB, usually in EPROM memories or in flash memories; that is why the CPU can be reprogrammed by updating the software of these memories or by changing the integrated circuits.
A large number of failures due to mechanical or programming defects in the ECUs are attributable to software problems, which may be due to a large number of circumstances such as poor software development processes, insufficient tests, errors when downloading the program in the microcontroller in the manufacturing plant, etc.
The updating or reprogramming of the software in an ECU requires that the vehicles be brought back to the plant or to the dealerships to execute this operation physically through a PC or other electronic devices that must be connected to the ECU itself of the vehicle in order to download and install the software that will allow its updating and reprogramming.
The updating or reprogramming of the software in an ECU requires the call recall of the vehicles to the plant or to the dealerships to execute this operation physically through a PC or other electronic devices that must be connected to the same ECU of the vehicle in order to execute the download and installation of the software that allows its updating and reprogramming.
Due to the increasing complexity in the features and functionalities of said ECU devices, it is becoming more common every year to be required to take a new car to its corresponding distributor due to a manufacturing defect (which can be a mechanical or programming defect) in order to perform a necessary update or reprogramming of its software.
Taking the above into account, it is easy to understand the scale of this problem within the automotive industry which loses millions of dollars each year due to this type of inconvenience, not to mention the decline in reputation that follows the need to recognize that new or recent vehicles were manufactured with some kind of defect.
Various systems are known in the market that allow the transmission of data to an ECU of a vehicle wirelessly (also called “Over-The-Air” or OTA) or with a wire as the following:
GM (ONSTAR). Technology used: CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). System used for the following objectives:
Collision notification system.
Assistance in case of vehicle theft.
Assistance on the road.
Remote car door opening.
Remote activation of the horn and optical horn.
Emergency button.
Remote vehicle diagnosis.
DAIMLER (mbrace2). Technology used: WIFI (HTML5). System used for the following objectives:
“Infotainment Systems” with applications such as updating FACEBOOK account, navigation etc. (characteristics very similar to the ONSTAR system).
MY FORD TOUCH. Technology used: USB. System used for the following objectives:
“Infotainment Systems” area.
QNX CAR 2. Technology used: It consists of a unified software platform with applications, information and entertainment, access to all its means of communication and control of the car itself. System used for the following objectives:
Allows one to use touch or voice commands to play music and other media, use navigation, search for parking, weather reports and post to FACEBOOK. There is even an application called VIRTUAL MECHANIC to easily check on the status of the different systems of the vehicle.
So far, it has been impossible to find a product that performs the reprogramming of electronic ECU control units via digital radio technology (such as HD Radio, Eureka-147 DAB, DRM, CAM-D etc.). Among the closest products, the only ones found are focused on the “Infotainment Systems” area, which means that they only cover the needs of updating the data in the vehicle for issues related to social network use, weather or traffic reports and, in some cases, such as with GM ONSTAR and QNX CAR 2, offer vehicle diagnostics. When it comes to innovation, these products do not transmit the information through the proposed form or method, since they do so by other means such as the Internet, which presents high security problems in the transmission/reception of data from or to the vehicle; not to mention that these products do not attack the problem dealing with this development.
The documents cited below were found while performing a search to determine the closest state of the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,607,215 B2, filed on Jul. 21, 2010 and granted on Dec. 10, 2013 to Natsume Mitsuyoshi and assigned to Denso Corporation, protects an electronic control system to rewrite control software in a car and defines a system whose purpose is to reprogram an ECU unit in such a way that the last update of a software is stored without deleting previous versions and where the storage takes place in the ROM/Flash memory of the microcontroller; it is also designed to download a program without taking risks of overwriting, defining a communication protocol of the half duplex type.
However, said patent does not disclose a system and method for the reprogramming of ECU (Electronic Control Units) devices in automotive vehicles, via digital radio, configured and structured as that of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,014,446 B2, filed on Dec. 22, 2006 and granted on Sep. 6, 2011 to the inventors Chinmay Shah et al and assigned to holders IBiquity Digital Corporation, protects a method and apparatus to receive and process a digital broadcast signal. The method includes the steps of receiving a digital broadcast signal, including content, storing encoded content, and decoding the stored encoded content to recover the decoded content. The stored encoded content may include units or protocol data packets. The stored encoded content can be recovered by decoding the encoded content. The content may include units or protocol data packets. The stored encoded content can be recovered by decoding the stored encoded content.
However, this patent only protects the method to perform a radio transmission by “HD-IBOC” which has nothing to do with the proposal of the present invention, except that this communication format could be used, among other digital formats of radio (HD Radio, Eureka-147 DAB, DRM, CAM-D etc.), for the transmission of data, that is to say, information that will be used to reprogram an electronic control unit inside a vehicle will be sent via radio. In short, the purpose of this patent is not a new communication protocol.
Another one is U.S. Pat. No. 8,306,521 B2, filed on May 5, 2008 and granted on Nov. 6, 2012, whose inventor is Ban Yoshinori, and (ceded) whose holder is Denso Corporation, which protects a vehicle control apparatus for reprogramming data stored therein on the basis of a reprogramming instruction transmitted to it through a wireless communication network. In the remote reprogramming technique, if the data reprogramming unit installed in the reprogramming station operates abnormally, an abnormal rewrite command could be sent, via the radio communication network, to a destination ECU of a motor vehicle to be reprogrammed.
The vehicle control apparatus for reprogramming data stored therein on the basis of a reprogramming instruction transmitted thereto through a first wireless communication network, which can sometimes be unreliable, said vehicle control apparatus comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive an instruction to deactivate the reprogramming transmitted through a second alternative wireless communication network different from the first wireless communication network, thereby increasing the probability that said blocking instruction was received even if the first network wireless communication is then in an unreliable state; and a deactivation unit configured to deactivate, in accordance with the reprogramming deactivation instruction, any one of: (a) reprogramming the data stored in the vehicle's control apparatus; and (b) receiving an alternative reprogramming instruction transmitted through the first wireless communication network; the use of said second alternative wireless communication network thus increasing the reliability of the data reprogramming systems based on the first wireless communication network by the suppression of the invalid reprogramming, even if the reliability of the first wireless communication network is not guaranteed or if there is a failure in the first wireless communication network. Wherein the first wireless communication network is a cellular network, and the instruction to deactivate reprogramming is transmitted through the second alternative wireless communication network, which may be one of: an FM multiplex broadcast network; an infrared communication network using optical beacons; and a radio communication network using radio beacons.
However, said patent requires the execution of a “bi-directional” communication method and two wireless communication networks, while in the patent proposal it is a “unidirectional or simplex” system, that is, the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) module will not communicate with wireless communication network.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,585 B1, filed on Apr. 28, 1998 and granted on Aug. 14, 2001 to Sewin F. Ablay et al, and assigned to Motorola, Inc, protects a communication system (100) that includes an infrastructure (150) and at least one vehicle (101), the vehicle including at least one vehicle system (103), and at least one user system (113). The infrastructure includes an application (155) which, in turn, is arranged to reprogram the vehicle system, the user system, or both. However, the patent establishes a bidirectional communication system and this does not reveal, nor suggest a system and method for the reprogramming of ECU devices (Electronic Control Units) in motor vehicles, via digital radio, configured and structured as the one of the present invention.
Another patent is U.S. Pat. No. 8,144,612B2, filed on Apr. 15, 2009 and granted on Mar. 27, 2012 to Steven Andrew Johnson, et al., and assigned to IBiquity Digital Corporation, which protects systems, methods and processor-readable media for the encoding and transmission of first and second media contents using a digital radio broadcasting system, such that the second media content can be generated in synchronization with the first media content by a receiver of digital radio broadcasting. The systems described, the methods and the means readable by the processor determine when a receiver will cause the audio and data content to be transmitted at a given time via digital radio broadcasting transmitter, and allow the content of the media to be adjusted accordingly to provide the synchronized representation.
However, this patent only protects the method for performing a “HD” radio transmission which has nothing to do with the subject-matter proposed by the present invention, except that this communication format could be used, among other digital radio formats (HD Radio, Eureka-147 DAB, DRM, CAM-D etc.), for the transmission of data, that is to say, information that will be used to reprogram an electronic control unit inside a vehicle will be sent via radio. In short, the purpose of this patent is not a new communication protocol.
The present invention was developed based on the need to have a system and method for the reprogramming of ECU devices (Electronic Control Units) in automobiles. Said invention offers a practical, fast, efficient and economical way to update and/or reprogram said ECU devices in vehicles via digital radio technology (HD Radio, Eureka-147 DAB, DRM, CAM-D etc.).